Fledglings
by GDeacur
Summary: I was wondering... what keeps you going down there on those days-long missions, being totally alone in such dangerous circumstances... what keeps you from going crazy?
1. Fledgling

**Fledglings**

"Any other questions?"

"Me. ME. ME!" cried an overexcited boy to the right of the class. All saw the grin on her face as Samus motioned toward him.

"Go ahead."

"How many times have you come within inches of death? You know, where you thought you'd surely die but somehow didn't?"

Why had she expected something like this?

"I don't keep a list in my pocket. The longer you do the job, the less you think about it. Even though your chances of dieing generally go up with age and a dangerous profession."

"So why would this make a good career choice, again?" interrupted a girl-who-thinks-she's-a-woman voice from the front.

"Hey, I'm just relating facts. Your principal thought it was a good idea," said Samus as she folded her arms.

"Class, please, raise your hand!" repeated the teacher from the back. This group of thirty certainly wasn't the worst mix of thirteen year olds Samus had ever seen. All the same, her reputation ensured a measure of excitement in the atmosphere, and excitement meant disorder when a gang of teens was involved.

"One more," she declared as she pointed to a rather ordinary looking black haired girl at the back. The young girl seemed shy by nature, stopping throughout her question to swallow and reselect her words.

"What, Miss Samus, I was wondering, keeps you going down there on those days-long missions? I know you have envirostuff in your suit, but… being totally alone, in such dangerous circumstances again and again…. What keeps you from going crazy?"

The usual classroom buzz diminished throughout her winding question. A few seemed to lean forward in their chairs in the silence, anxious to hear the reply following the hunter's surprised, thoughtful expression. Samus stared off at the ground before drawing a deep breath and-

"Boring! Show us your power suit!" screamed a purposefully obnoxious voice from the very back. Riotous laughter ensued.

"Kids! Please! Raise your hand!"

After an irritated shake of the head, Samus said with mild ire, "My exoskeleton isn't a toy. Go find an action figure if you want to play." A kid sitting next to the class clown – likely the next in line for that title – released an ooohhhhh sound.

"Anyways, as I was about to say, it's not that short a story, and the digital readout up there tells me that you've less than a minute to lunch, so unless you can ignore your hunger pangs for…" and the clock struck. All things came to an end, for lunch hour had begun. The young of various species excitedly filed out the rear doors towards the cafeteria or athletics field. After the noisy conundrum only the teacher, the black haired girl and the over-enthused boy remained.

"Still interested?"

"I've some work to do back here… don't mind me," replied the teacher, already tapping her personal data pad. "But go on, I don't want to force you out."

The two children exchanged a quick look and both got up to take seats right in front of Samus.

"Yeah, get close. This isn't one for crowds anyways. What are your names by the way?"

"I'm Xorba," said the girl. There was no way Samus would be pronouncing that right.

"Hi Sorba." Something about the girl, thought Samus, was very respectable. Her maturity seemed beyond her years. "And you?"

"I'm Justin." Glasses, freckles, unmerciful passion… but he was mannered, and seemed interested in Samus and not just "the hunter". Samus became suddenly aware of an odd tingling sensation welling in her stomach; there was something most pleasant about being a parent figure.

"And I'm Samus Aran, as you know. Let me just yank this stool over… okay, so, let's see… give me a second to think of how I should introduce this tale. By the way, this is a rather personal story, so let's keep it between us, okay?"

"Course! Where does it happen, Miss Aran?"

"Far, far away, Justin, on the planet where I was raised. Not that distance matters anyways."

"Zebes, right?"

"That's the one. I think you know how I wound up there and who was caring for me, so I'll skip that part. What you don't know, what hardly anyone knows, is all the little big things that happened there."

And so she recounted the brief story that follows, with a few pauses for thought. The teacher quickly stopped her work and tuned in, for some needs are not left behind with age. 


	2. Fledglings

**Fledglings**

I hadn't had such a miserable day in my life. We all have them, and this was mine. You know, where everything is wrong, and your best effort to fix things only makes everything worse.

I was lying on my back a few feet from the bottom of a rocky drop. A nagging ache in my right ankle became a roar with the slightest pressure, so I lie there, hoping the stony crag could somehow sense my enraged stare. There was no way I could hop back to the outpost on one foot. From afar, Zebes' terrain is rather featureless; up close, it is horribly rough and choppy.

How did I get here again? Oh, right, the scavenger hunt. They sent us after a bunch of beacons, hovering silver balls, scattered within a three mile radius around the outpost. The creatures whose vitals were being broadcast by the transmitters weren't entered into the scanner's databanks. We had to calibrate the scanner manually, drawing on our knowledge of the lifeforms. This takes time and, as usual, there was a limit to said time. There would be scores, there would be a ranking - a very public ranking, and praise showered up the best performers. All in the name of training us to multitask and prioritize, to run and think and program a computer as fast as possible. No, wait, that's not the goal . Fast_er_ than everyone else.

And in my desperation, I took a shortcut down this little cliff and wrecked my ankle.

There are no big predators on Zebes – the surface, anyways – so I took a few minutes to rest and hope my ankle would miraculously heal. Maybe, I thought, I could get going again, find that floating sphere and get back with no one noticing yet another failure on "the human's" part. It was pleasant wishful thinking that soon ended – the commlink in the pouch strapped to my thigh would have to come out, and I would call home for a rescue. But my hand was locked in place, hoping something would happen to fix my latest blunder, something to cool my burning frustration.

It didn't take long. Something happened. There was a distant humming sound drawing closer. I braced myself at first, but eased up when I recognized it. The sound of a hovy. Small, floating platforms for three or four, with a rail around the edge and a small nav console. Their maximum altitude wasn't too high, but it was more than enough for the bland rocks and dirt that was Zebes exterior.

I called out.

"It's me. Old Bird," came the response from over the stone wall. This pleased me – best it be him to suffer my inexorable outburst. After he floated the hovy over the edge and landed a few feet beside me, he hopped off and strutted up to my foot. He then hunched over on his staff as he examined my ankle. I told him I wasn't going anywhere. He saw my dampening eyes and reddening face and inquired, "What's wrong?"

He asked for it.

First I decried the general lack of justice in the universe. Pain, suffering, crime, oppressive authorities et cetera. He said nothing, waiting for me to get to… me.

So I shrieked about being the only human among two thousand Chozo.

"I'm sorry, Samus, but you must remain with us for now. Once you graduate, once you are prepared, you will be free, and you can return to your own people if you wish."

I then implored anyone who was listening – why was I always last? Always, in everything!

"You're improving and learning, Samus. Your place next to Chozo classmates is irrelevant."

Of course, I said, that's easy for him to say! Why was I so dumb? The Chozo are, by nature, quick and sharp of mind. A human cannot compare, ever, in any contest of math or science – these things being mostly all the Chozo care about.

"You aren't 'dumb', Samus. Research into human records indicates you perform normally."

That, I told him, offered little comfort to this remedial. I was also physically retarded. Dead last in every physical test. Always. Chozo reflexes are simply faster than humans; their limbs and members, more dexterous.

"But you have a much tougher constitution, Samus. You are stronger in brute force at fifteen than a full grown Chozo. Our exercises just aren't made to rely on your differ… unique human physiology."

I told him that it didn't seem to stop anyone else from insulting me out of earshot, treating me like a pittance.

"You mean the other fledglings, Samus. You know well that Chozo don't mature as fast as humans. They are as, I imagine, an eight year old human would be. I wish there were someone your peer, but we're all much older or younger…"

This mention of the slower maturity rate, I cried, was the last straw. Of course they mature slower – they live twelve times as long! What's the rush? It was too much. I screamed obscenities. He overlooked them this time, knowing my unhappy state was punishment enough.

I told him as bitterly as possible that I would die before him. I had about sixty years left, he had three times that.

"I'm sorry, Samus. If I could fight off death for you or somehow lend you my years, I would. But I just can't change…"

I cut him off. I didn't want to see my adoptive father die. No, that was unbearable. But almost as bad, I said, was this: in my final years, if we met, I would be hobbling. (That staff of his was just a show of his high rank amongst the elders.) I would need the geriatric gear. I would need him, I, ever the dependent, ever the weak, from the day he found me to the day he buries me. I could never, ever pay him back for all his care.

"No one possibly can, Samus. There has never been a creature born that could earn life from its makers. Just... listen to me and grow, as you are. That will make your Old Bird very happy."

I was out of words, so I ran his last statement through my head while I simmered. He sat next to me for a few minutes in silence. Then he got up, stepped over to the hovy and activated his own comm unit.

"Grey Voice, please send Kapako to my current location on a vehicle, immediately. I require his assistance."

Grey Voice acknowledged, and Old Bird sat down next to me.

"He'll be about five minutes. We'll lift you together and take you home. I'm sure you'll recover fully in three or four days." That brought me some relief. And better Kapako than anyone else. He was an unusually patient, kind soul, and I trusted him almost as much as my adoptive father.

I finally sat up, my back getting quite sore by now, and noticed the comm unit, still strapped to my thigh. I wondered… I stared at it, and at my adoptive father, and he saw the bewildered expression on my face. I didn't call, so how did he know to come?

"I was watching you through a scope, Samus. You were getting close! Then you went over the little cliff here and didn't reappear, so I came."

I thought about that until Kapako came blazing over the edge. They helped me up onto his slightly larger hovy. I went back to camp, and a few days later was all healed up.

* * *

The three were silent. When Xorba realized that meant Samus was finished, she asked, "have you seen him since?"

"Yes. Once, briefly."

"Well go find him again," said Justin. "You have to!"

"You know, I try, but he and the gang are awfully tough to catch… and I do have other obligations…"

"What do you think he's doing now?"

"I honestly couldn't tell you, Justin, but I'm sure of at least one thing on his mind."

The kids seemed to think about that for a moment before Samus told them she had to run.

"Aww, can't you…"

"Look, give me your datalink numbers… I'll send you some stuff from time to time."

**The End**


End file.
